He's now officially the longest-serving senior inter-county manager in hurling and football, but Colm Collins undertook a lengthy review process before opting to commit to the Banner for another year.
"I'm there since 2014," he told RTÉ Sport. "And it’s always been a one-year term that I've taken.
"It was the same again this winter. The players reviewed the seasons and if they came back with any negative stuff I was gone, I would have stepped down no problem.
"Equally, it was the management’s view that the appetite was still there among ourselves and the players to go forward and improve for another year.
"And then I actually had to get offered the job again. As I say, I have never taken more than a year at a time so if change was ever needed, I would gladly have stepped away.
"The final thing is that I am involved with some very good people here and I enjoy this job as much as I have ever done. Those are the reasons why I decided to come back."
Having retained their Division 2 status and reached the All-Ireland quarter-final, was there a temptation to walk away, perhaps wondering if the ceiling had been reached?
"No, once we all decided to come back the challenge is to now challenge the Division 1 teams," he states.
"We are under no illusion as to the amount of hard work that faces us. The bar is high. When I started in 2014, we were miles away (Division 4) from where we currently are, but there is absolutely no point in taking your foot off the pedal now. We will go back and keep driving for improvement.
"We will work on the things we didn’t get right this year. That means working a lot harder. All of us involved have to up our game."
Collins reflects on his nine years in charge and feels the inter-county game is now amateur in name only.
"They call it amateur, but our fellas are full-time at it, they are playing a professional game in everything but name. From the moment they wake up in the morning to every aspect of their daily lives, they are living and breathing Gaelic football.
"The only difference is they are not getting paid and they are working full-time. But that’s it. From morning to night, they are living the life of professional players."
The Kilmihill native is more than happy with the work being undertaken in developing Gaelic football across the county, praising the efforts and attention being placed on the sport at club level.
"We have worked really hard at underage and in the academies," he adds.
"You are looking to add two to three players to your senior squad from the underage set-up every year and we are doing that in spades. It’s working. We have good management teams in place at minor and under-20 level and the development is good."
The bottom line is the Tailteann Cup was a great success and the GAA deserves great praise
The Tailteann Cup has been widely received by Collins, insisting that the opportunity for every team in the country to target silverware is a huge positive.
"The northern and southern region formats didn’t sit well with me, like we are not living in Australia, but that will change next year and it would be easy to sit here and criticise.
"The bottom line is the Tailteann Cup was a great success and the GAA deserves great praise. Some brilliant football was played and everyone involved deserves credit."
Collins will sit back and see what way the new championship format works and how it settles next season.
"I’ll reserve judgement and see how it pans out, but it is definitely a step in the right direction," he continues.
"People are saying the inter-county season could be a little longer, but personally I will see how it goes. It might need a tweak but I do think it is going in the right direction. These things take time.
"You don’t just clap your hands and arrive at the perfect solution."
